By Tiziana Conti, Administration and Fundraising Coordinator, WACC-UK

"Hype or Hope? The impact of digital media on journalism and development” was the theme of the German “Forum Media and Development” symposium (FoME) held at the Deutsche Welle in Bonn, Germany, on 25th and 26th of October. The Symposium explored how “ digital technology” is changing production, distribution and consumption of media and its potential to contribute to the development of free and independent media in developing countries.

“There is a lot of fear and skepticism in the North, about the new digital tools,” said Justin Arenstein from the Association of Independent Publishers, Rest of the World Media. “Most journalists think that these tools are disruptive and that they are eroding the ability of journalists to do their jobs properly, whereas in the South they have been very empowering, they have created a more level playing field where journalists even in small cities can now access the same production tools and the same search tools."

Freedom House is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2011. It has had a chequered history since it was established in 1941 in New York City from an amalgamation of two groups formed with the quiet encouragement of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to encourage popular support for American involvement in World War II.

Freedom House claims to have been an aggressive foe of 1950s McCarthyism and an early supporter of the movement for racial equality. In 1973, it launched Freedom in the World, an annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties. Employing a methodology devised by leading social scientists, the survey rated every country in the world according to a series of indicators basic to freedom. Some critics have identified a tendency to condemn states opposed to US interests and to be unduly sympathetic to those regimes supportive of US interests.

By Teresia Mutuku, Communication Officer and Web Manager, WACC

A Summer School on “Communication and Religion” jointly organized by WACC, the Institute of Christian Communication of the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremburg, Germany and the Ecumenical Institute Bossey of the World Council of Churches (WCC) concluded with students praising the program for its diversity and depth.

The Summer school, held at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland, 1-14 August 2011, was attended by 17 students from Armenia, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Nevis, Sri Lanka and Ukraine. WACC sponsored a number of the students to attend.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) marked the end of its Decade to Overcome Violence with an International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC). Attended by some 1,000 delegates from all over the world, it took place in Kingston, Jamaica, 17-25 May 2011.

The IEPC took the next step in an ecumenical journey intended to explore in depth the concept of “just peace”, to address ethical and theological questions, and to strengthen the networks and partnerships necessary for ecumenical peace-building and peace advocacy today. The outcomes of the IEPC will influence the agenda of the next WCC Assembly, taking place in 2013 in Busan, South Korea, on the theme “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.

Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA)

Press Release, 11 April 2011

UNITED NATIONS  -- Representatives of faith-based advocacy and humanitarian groups participating in an 8 April hearing at the United Nations (UN) on the HIV pandemic said the meeting highlighted progress that had been made but also revealed serious challenges ahead.

Efforts by faith groups and others will have to be particularly focused and intense in the weeks leading up to a high-level 8-10 June meeting at the UN that will assess progress and set new targets in the global response to HIV and AIDS.

Religion Communicators Council  (RCC) 2011

By Philip Lee, WACC Deputy-Director of Programmes

The National Convention of the Religion Communicators Council took place in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, 31 March to 2 April 2011 on the theme “Communicating Outside the Box”. As a curtain-raiser to the Convention, WACC Global and WACC North America joined forces to screen The Garden at the End of the World, a documentary by Australian film-maker Gary Caganoff and winner of the WACC-SIGNIS Human Rights Award 2010. The film portrays the lives of those hardest hit by the consequences of war in Afghanistan – widows and orphans, who number tens of thousands. It follows two women, Afghan refugee Mahboba Rawi and internationally recognised permaculturalist Rosemary Morrow, who offer alternative views on how to solve the problems facing the country.

What is the future for the Public Broadcasting Service in the USA?

Compiled by María Teresa Aveggio, Programme Manager, Communication Rights Programme, WACC

		Almost a month ago the US House of Representatives voted to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the institution responsible for distributing federal funds that support over a thousand local public broadcasting stations. Created by the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act, the CPB is a non-profit corporation funded by the US Federal Government to promote public broadcasting in the country. By 1969 the CPB started what is now known as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). A year later, the CPB formed the National Public Radio (NPR) a network of public radio stations across the country.
Image source: VoxPublica

A presentation by Rev. Karin Achtelstetter, the General Secretary of the World Association for Christian Communication  (WACC)  during the 5th Commission meeting of the Interfaith Action for Peace (IFAPA)  held in Mombasa, Kenya, 11th-14th March 2011 

Inspired by Christian faith, members and partners of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) promote communication for social change, believing communication to be a basic human right. Where this is denied, human society as a whole is impoverished. At global, regional, and local levels, WACC supports media diversity and equal and affordable access to communication and information resources. We do so by means of advocacy, education, training, and the creation and sharing of knowledge. We know that we are not alone in this quest. Therefore, we work with faith-based and secular partners, giving preference to the needs of the poor, marginalised and dispossessed.

Rev. Karin Achtelstetter (2nd left- standing) with participants of the  5th Commission meeting of IFAPA, In Mombasa, Kenya (Photo by Kristy Bergman )

“Controlling information is taking away people's right to information, something that is fundamental for real democracy to exist” (Gonzalo Marroquín, Guatemalan journalist and President of Inter American Press Association)

By Teresia Mutuku, Communication Officer and Web Manager, WACC

		Over the past 30 years, information and communication technologies in Guatemala have evolved significantly, but media monopoly has remained unchanged. “One thing that has stayed the same is the concentration of media ownership in a very few hands,” says Dennis Smith, President of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), in a recent interview in Guatemala City.
Dennis Smith, President, WACC and  Evelyn Blanck, Executive Director, Centro Civitas

The struggle against feminicide in Guatemala

By Teresia Mutuku, Communication Officer and Web Manager, WACC

		Killing a woman simply because she is a woman is a tragic phenomenon, unfathomable and beyond imagination. But this is a reality faced by hundreds of women in Guatemala and other countries in Central America. More than 4,500 women have been killed since the year 2000 in Guatemala alone. The majority of the victims were between the ages of 16 and 30, according to the latest publication by CEDEPCA (Centro Evangélico de Estudios Pastorales en Centro América) a partner network of WACC (World Association for Christian Communication). About 700 women were killed in 2010, as feminicide continues to take its toll.
Participants of the WACC-CEDEPCA workshops on feminicide

By Joyce Larko, Christian Council of Ghana

Adwoa Amina (not her real name) is a beautiful young woman who works as a sales person for an organization in the Ga West Municipality, in Ghana. Adwoa’s fiancé suddenly died after a series of health complications. Soon after his demise, Adwoa started losing weight and suffered from one sickness to the other. She was later diagnosed HIV positive. In her attempt to avoid the stigmatization that is associated with most persons living with HIV/AIDS in her community, she decided not to disclose her status to anyone.  Her health deteriorated. Her family took her to a prayer camp to seek spiritual help. But she did not get better despite a series of “spiritual cleansing”.

By María Teresa Aveggio, Programme Manager

		As part of its work on communication for social change,  WACC has supported some 79 projects in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America under its programme Building and Recognising Communication Rights since 2007. The concept of communication rights is a new one and partners and funders frequently ask what are communication rights? For a long time now many groups and organisations, as well as individuals, have been working on the idea that communication rights are fundamental to the democratisation of society since they “strengthen the capacity of people and communities to use communication and media to pursue their goals in the economic, political, social and cultural spheres. They support key human rights that collectively enhance people’s capacity to communicate in their own general interest and for the common good.” (No-Nonsense guide to communication rights http://www.centreforcommunicationrights.org/).

The Norwegian Peace Council in cooperation with the International Peace Bureau organized a conference called ‘A Climate of Peace’ which took place in Oslo, 23-26 September 2010. The aim was to strengthen alliances and partnerships between Nordic and international peace-building groups, to discuss disarmament for development, and conflict prevention. The Kenya Pastoralist Journalist Network (PAJAN) – a WACC partner – took part in the conference and the following feature was written by its Network Chair, Abjata Khalif

Full feature article here.

By Philip Lee, WACC Deputy-Director of Programs

A multimedia Peace Fair marking the 10th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 took place in New York, 25-29 October 2010. Representatives of several organizations from around the world gathered to highlight the contributions of women’s groups and others towards implementing UNSCR 1325.

The Peace Fair included panel discussions on the role of female peacekeepers in conflict situations, women in peace negotiations, and how women worldwide are making and building peace. Films and documentaries were screened, and a small book fair offered publications focusing on different aspects of gender and peace.

Hay quienes no ven aún con claridad los rasgos que distinguen a un periodista de un comunicador. Sin embargo es tan simple como transitar por una calle en un solo sentido y por otra en dos sentidos

Los medios de comunicación masiva no existen, son una mentira. Ya lo escribió Antonio Pasquali en 1963 y más recientemente lo han repetido hasta el cansancio Dominique Wolton (1) y Eduardo Vizer, entre otros. Pero por algún motivo, en la jerga común seguimos hablando de “medios de comunicación” en lugar de usar las palabras que se ajustan más a su naturaleza real: medios de difusión o medios de información (aunque algunos dirán que desinforman, en lugar de informar).